Avatar: The Fallen Legacy
by Mr.BossMan5000
Summary: I'm pretty sure you'll like this, if you liked Avatar. Where my fire benders at? But anyways, Meet Zero and Kyana. The Next Bending Badazzes. But when the two Cross on the streets, fate plays it's hand in their lives. The Race for the Vault of the Avatar is on. Enjoy
1. Chapter 1

Author Note: So this story, not sure what to say yet. I think this will be pretty cool. I'm only adding one chapter at a time. This story is supposed to be a trilogy, however the Kyana writing and myself only finished numbers 1 and 2. We came so close to number 3, but things happened. So you'll only get two story. This one, and it's sequel. But you'll enjoy it anyway. I'll do my best to get that third story out to the world, because it's our best work. However if you find you enjoy our styles, she and I are working on a brand new story, _Broken Memoirs._ Well without further wait, here's Story 1, Chapter 1

Zero

"Kuso!" Some kind of way I had rationalized that if I cussed in Japanese, being another language, it wasn't really cussing. Damned blood bender, making my job harder. All the past Avatars that did something with themselves and I'm born into the time with the shit Avatar who believes bending is the curse of the world. Not to mention the corrupt cops. All these benders on the force and not a one of them actually cared about the crimes going on in our city. So some kinda way I ended up being the good guy rushing to the scene. Since when are firebenders the good guys, and waterbenders the bad guys? Isn't it the other way around? Looking into the night time sky I saw a half moon. "Wonderful, not just an advanced waterbender, but a freak of nature at that. And during his time of day. Whatever happened to good old team avatar, where I'd be running in with some kind of back up right now? Screw it. It's too late to be finding teammates now." Arriving to the docks, I saw some of the city kids who looked like they were in a struggle. "Found the victims. Now where's the bender?" Almost on cue a few more struggling teens came around corners. I suppose me being the hero, the water tribe descendant assumed I wouldn't hurt hostages, even if they attacked me. How wrong was he? "You might as well come out and fight yourself. I don't roll with the law, so I won't mind killing any of these guys." The helpless assortment of boys and girl all looked shocked. I don't see why. They wouldn't think twice about killing me. I took a second to wonder why I was the only 17 year old saving the world on a Friday night, instead of playing some AC9 or on a date with some girl from school. Igniting a fire, I lit the dock and stepped back. But before it spread to anything, a wave rushed from the sea and reduced it to ashes. This time I shot at a boy, specifically one who'd I sent to jail for a few months for some minor stuff. Even heroes pick favorites. With the same effect I was getting tired of waiting, and considered leaving and letting events go with the flow. "Stop wasting my time, I got a lot of homework to do, okay." A figure with it's back turned began to rise from under the waves. "Oh don't you feel cool, appearing all slow mo. Let's just get this over with." As it got high I began to see I was closer to a date than I'd thought. The figure was womanly. And when she turned around she was more attractive than any girl in all of Rep High. Named after the city, it was supposed to symbolize equality. That was the joke of the century though. Anyways, she looked about my age. Long hair. Violet eyes. Maybe about 5'6. And a face that pretty couldn't be totally evil. Right? "Hey umm, before we have this whole showdown, is there anyway I could change your mind, and we could just go back to my place? Unless of course you wanna take it slow, I totally understand." She smirked a little bit, before waving her black hair behind her ear. I thought that meant she was interested. But then I realized she was flinging a car at me. Instead of dodging, I took a quick breath, and shot fire until it was melted down the middle and the two halves went by me on either side. "You know it really doesn't have to be this way. You're a bender, I'm a bender. Sounds great when you don't think about it." Yet again my efforts came up short of success. "You could at least acknowledge my presence with a 'no' or something." "No." Of course. With one more glance, she released her grip over the teens, and submerged back into the ocean. I let down my guard a little sooner than I should have, but it was all good. "You guys alright?" I got the typical response of various 'thanks yous' and 'you saved my life'. "Yeah, it's what I do." Although one of the older looking boys had a bit extra to add in. "My family owns some big companies. Give me your name and I'll make sure you get compensated for you help." "I'm not looking for payment. Just for a better place for me to call home. And the names Zero by the way. Zero Abyss." I hit the ground after that, feeling a piercing and cold pain to the back of my head. When I opened my eyes again, she was right there leaned over me. Almost enough where I could have seen down her shirt, but angled just so I couldn't, clearly on purpose. Her voice was light, and slightly playful, but also sharp like poison, "We'll be seeing more of each other, Zero." When I came to, it was almost noon judging by the sun. I couldn't help but think about her words, 'We'll be seeing more of each other'. Before picking myself off the ground I thought to myself, glad no one could hear my thinking, _I better train to resist seduction. Kuso._

Kyana

Night was my favorite time of day. The beauty of the moon, the swift winds, and the strength of my bending. Mine was the best element. Water. It was definitely the most versatile. I could do anything with it. Anything. So seeing a few jerks on the streets of Republic city just made this night ten times better. They didn't know what hit them. "What the hell?" The sweet sound of a struggle. The good thing about being a waterbender was that if you came from the right family, you could bloodbend. Bloodbending was my specialty. Didn't need a full moon. Just the willpower, and I had plenty of that. "You're kind of in a bind, no?" This might've been one of the best nights of my week. Until I heard footsteps getting louder. _Someone always has to ruin the fun._ I found a few more guys who just so happened to be in the wrong place at the right time, and decided they would fight whoever this was for me. I wasn't really into putting effort into anything that didn't interest me. "You might as well come out and fight yourself. I don't roll with the law, so I won't mind killing any of these guys." He must've thought that bothered me. I didn't care about any of these people's lives, but I would spare them to piss him off. Flames rushed onto the dock, the dock right above the sea. Firebender. Easy. This guy must not have been the brightest kid on the block. In an instant, the flames were gone. Breathing was enough to push the water. When he fired at the biggest jerk of them all, I almost decided to let him get burned. Then I remembered I was trying to piss this guy off, so every shot fired was matched with a whip of water. "Stop wasting my time, I got a lot of homework to do okay." So the kid _did_ go to school. Must not have been a very good one. But this was getting boring, so I played along. Jumping down into the ocean, I surrounded myself, making sure to not get my hair wet. I pushed myself out of the water, loving the feel of being surrounded by it. When I was finally out, I heard a slightly annoyed "Oh don't you feel cool, appearing all slow mo. Let's just get this over with." When I decided I was high up enough to stop, I turned around to see that the kid was definitely that. A kid. What was with the cops? Letting kids like us do crap that could kill us? That was exactly why I didn't give a shit about what was right or wrong. I decided that for myself. When I landed on the ground, I was greeted with "Hey umm, before we have this whole showdown, is there anyway I could change your mind, and we could just go back to my place? Unless of course you wanna take it slow, I totally understand." _C'mon kid. Really? This could come back to hurt you. _Thinking of all the ways I could destroy him, I flipped a car toward him. It almost hit him. _He couldn't be that stupid. _Nope. Burned straight down the middle. "You know it really doesn't have to be this way. You're a bender, I'm a bender. Sounds great when you don't think about it." I thought about just knocking him off his feet, but I went another route. "You could at "I'm not looking for payment. Just for a better place for me to call home. And the names Zero by the way. Zero Abyss." I hit the ground after that, feeling a piercing and cold pain to the back of my head. When I opened my eyes again, she was right there leaned over me. Almost enough where I could have seen down her shirt, but angled just so I couldn't, clearly on purpose. Her voice was light, and slightly playful, but also sharp like poison, "We'll be seeing more of each other, Zero." When I came to, it was almost noon judging by the sun. I couldn't help but think about her words, 'We'll be seeing more of each other'. Before picking myself off the ground I thought to myself, glad no one could hear my thinking, _I better train to resist seduction. Kuso._


	2. Chapter 2

Zero

I spent the rest of the weekend looking for that girl. With no results. What was her reason anyway? Unfortunately Mondays happen and I had to return to school. Entering my first period class, there was a kid with featureless white eyes, and raven hair sitting in the seat in front of mine. My best friend Soul was where he was supposed to be. In the seat behind mine. Soul was basically the only airbender I was cool with. Nearly the only guy I was cool with since I barely had any type of social life. "Man I don't see why you don't help me out. I could have used somebody to have my back." "I don't bend for the city man, I bend for myself. And it was just a waterbender, they're only good for healing." "But you weren't there, you didn't see her whup me. I could be dead right now. Just help me out. Just this once? Help me catch this girl." "Alright Z, but I better not die or something." "Bout damn time. By the way. She's stunning so you better prepare yourself." "Oh you didn't mention that. You gonna tap that?" Was he serious? 'Am I gonna tap that?' "What kind of question is that?" I couldn't believe I said it but, "Of course I am. Although you better train first. With me. Rep High's combat class is child's play to the real deal." He nodded his head to agree. I took out my phone. A robotic woman's voice exited the speakers. "Hello Zero. How can I be of assistance today?" "Set up a tag team training sim that will be challenging but still safe for Soul and I, to be ready by the time I return from school this afternoon. And continue to use the city cameras to search for the girl from Friday." "Confirmed. Is there any other way I may be of service today?" "Direct any information received to my laptop instead immediately upon reception." "Confirmed. Will that be all?" "Yes." I put the phone slash worlds smallest supercomputer back into my pocket. "Zero I hate to put it like this, but you're lucky your parents died and left you all their money." I didn't signify a response. The rest of the day sort of went by in a flash. I didn't pay much attention. Thinking was more important at the moment. I got no reports from my computer the whole day. This girl had practically vanished. I drove us to my house, because I still didn't trust Soul to drive my car. I commanded for the security system around my house to shut down. It was a decent sized house, so I kept the most advanced security systems since my place wasn't exactly low profile. "So I'm thinking we'll be a good tag team Soul. The oxygen you can provide will boost my fire, so we should work on unison attacks. And you can cover for me when I want sparks to fly." I decided I was a pretty decent bender since I could shoot lightning. It wasn't that rare anymore, but not just anybody could do it. "Alright let's head into the training center." I reached for the knob to the door, but stopped at the sound of my phone. "Mr. Abyss. The target has been located. 7 miles north, 3.42 west. I looked at Soul. Then back at my phone. "I hope you're good at improv." _Wonder what she's doing on the north side of town. _We took the car again. I slid on my favorite pair of black fingerless gloves. "Bringing out the gloves aye Z? Getting serious huh?" He took out a pair of green fingerless gloves. My black and red jacket, didn't match his black and green at all. And we ran into a similar problem with the shoes that matched our own jackets. Come to think of it, there was nothing that said we were on the same side. The Japanese symbol for fire : 火, on my back didn't go well with his symbol for wind : 風. Too late now. We arrived on the scene and there she was. But who was that with her? "I guess everyone is adding friends to the party." We got out and it looked like she had been waiting for me. "You still rolling on this bad girl stuff?" "You still playing hero?" "Oh so you got jokes now?" "Get used to it. Where is the vault of the Fire Lord Zero?" I cringed at the thought that anyone else knew that place existed. It was a secret held in my family since it was made. And now someone who hailed from the water tribe caught wind of it too? You gotta be kidding me. "I don't know what you're talking about." "Zero this isn't a movie, playing dumb doesn't work here. Now you're going to tell me, or you can die." I checked the surroundings. The city's river. She had planned on a fight. The wind kicked up and our four jackets waved for a moment. Yet she questioned this being a movie. Dramatic wind before the big fight? That's no coincidence. I looked at Soul, and nodded. He stepped in front of me and formed a small protective tornado around us while I charged lightning. The waterbender jumped backwards into the water, then lifted herself to the top of a water cyclone. I wondered if she'd been watching too many Legend of Korra reruns. Her friend, who showed himself to be an earthbender, got a few rocks and looked ready to shoot. "Aye Zero. This ought to be interesting huh?" If only he knew what we were getting into. 

Kyana

It had been a while since I'd last talked to Zane. He carved the cave for me then disappeared. It wasn't surprising, he wasn't the type to stay in one place for too long. But we always knew how to find each other. It just so happened that he was at the old pro-bending arena that day. "Kyana, long time no see." "Yeah, it's been a while. You know why I'm here?" "Is this about that vault?" He knew me well. "What can I say? It has a certain lure." "Well, for as long as I've known you, I know you won't stop until you get there so I might as well help you." Good. "Glad to hear it. Tell me everything you know about a guy named Zero Abyss." He stared at me for a second. "You've gotta be kidding me." "Obviously not, he someone I should know about?" He spent the next hour explaining every reason why I should've known who this Abyss kid was, and why he was a key part in finding the Vault. Now he wasn't just someone to mess with. He was important. Great. _Oh well, I'll find a way._ "He'll be looking for you. You can have that effect." I didn't usually think about my appearance, only my goals. But when people pointed it out, it was just a slight boost to my day. Even if I didn't show it. I walked with Zane down to the river, just waiting for Zero to show up. When he did, I was thrilled. I loved to fight. He got out of his car, and the first thing he said was "You still rolling on this bad girl stuff?" "You still playing hero?" Being a smartass was also part of my nature. "Oh so you got jokes now?" "Get used to it. Where is the vault of the Fire Lord Zero?" His eyes narrowed, and he winced. "I don't know what you're talking about." Did he think I was an idiot? "Zero this isn't a movie, playing dumb doesn't work here. Now you're going to tell me, or you can die." I almost meant that, but part of me wasn't all into killing people. _Hope he doesn't pick up on that. _I looked over at his friend, who just stood there, looking like the type of person to go with the flow. The two looked at each other, and a minute later, there was a tornado surrounding them. Airbender? Interesting. I thought I saw lightning, which would not be a good combination with water. Good thing I had Zane. Knowing he could handle himself in a fight, I prepared myself with a huge swirl of water. This would definitely be fun. When the wind around Zero and his friend died down, I saw a pretty impressive amount of electricity aimed to hit my vortex of water. So he was at least smart enough to attempt to get the water to conduct. I simply adjusted where my water was spinning to dodge his shot. At this time of day, not too much after noon, his bending would be at near it's best. A shame that at best he still wouldn't be able to handle this. When he began to shoot a volley of blast, Zane's earth wall easily halted the attack. I returned with ice disk. Zero melted it, typical firebender move, and his friend did a mediocre job at dodging for someone who can move like the wind. Zero looked at his friend, and then again returned to shooting at us. _Does he learn nothing? _Zane's earth wall again made a perfect defense, until I saw the fire start to break through. _What is Zane doing over there? _Then I saw it. With every few shoots Zero sent, the airbender boosted with a wave of wind. The oxygen had added strength to the fires. On the outside, nothing changed about me, but I was just a little surprised. It wouldn't save them though, it would only give me a slightly greater challenge. Anything was better than it just being overly easy. After the lecture Zane had given me earlier, I hoped this kid could live up to something. And then he did. I'd fought with Zane multiple times before, so our minds were always on the same level. Sometimes I forgot how smart he was. Wet pavement still equaled earth. A little extra water made it extra bendable. Once we had it around the airbender's feet, Zane turned it into a rock mold. "What the hell?" "For an airbender, you're pretty slow," Zane remarked. I couldn't help but smile. Zero rolled his eyes. "Really?" "What can I say? We've been doing this for awhile." I sent shards of ice his way, which he blocked with a fire kick. "Zane, think you could take care of this for me?" "No problem. Firebenders are my specialty." I walked over to the airbender. He was trying to free himself from the rock. "Having some trouble there?" He just stood there staring for a minute, like a deer in the headlights. "Are you brain dead?" I looked at his face, and immediately became annoyed. I smiled, then kneed him where it counts. He doubled over in pain, which was very satisfying. "Try looking at my eyes next time." I considered my appearance for the second time that day. I was wearing a typical summer outfit, unusual looking for a waterbender. A black tank paired with white shorts, along with a pair of gray basketball shoes. It's not like I looked like a stripper. I looked down at my chest again. _Well, not completely. _I turned around to see that Zane still needed work, very worn down by Zero. _Seriously? _One more hit and he was gone. I'd have to use alternate methods on this kid. "So, it's just us again." _Yep._ I decided to go for his emotions. I started to cry, and with a gentle voice, asked "Why are you doing this to me?"


	3. Chapter 3

Zero

"Why are you doing this to me?"_ Crying? You HAVE to be joking._ She'd made these last few days for me a total hell, and had the time of her life doing it. She'd ruined my best friend's chance at kids. With a smile on her face. And she'd stolen secrets from my family like it was a casual everyday thing. But another part of me told me she was serious. Maybe this was a big misunderstanding and she mistook me for the bad guy. "I'm just looking for a better place for me to call home. So why are you blocking the path Zero?" The same thing I'd said the other day. I let down my guard. I walked over. Slowly. "What do you mean blocking the path? I'm protecting the city." She looked up at me and I met her gaze. "This isn't about the city. This is about the world. A world that needs it's Avatar." I tried to comfort her without being too touchy. "Well, um, what should I do to help?" I glanced at Soul who was looking at me and shaking his head. I didn't know if I should listen to him or my own instincts. The sound of her light voice caught my attention again. "The vault. All I need to know is where to find the vault." I took a deep breath. I chose my instincts. When I pulled out my phone, I pressed a few buttons, then a scan went through my eye. I pressed a few more buttons and a small piece of paper printed with the location of the Vault of The Fire Lord. "Here." She wiped her face and seemed to brighten up a bit. "I'm glad that you changed your mind." "You could have just explained from the start and I would have just helped." She waved her hands, and we were covered in water she'd drawn from the river. She walked out after freezing me inside. "I'm glad you weren't smart enough to figure me out. You think I'd beg you for anything, or have a breakdown in the middle of a fight? Honestly Zero, you're pitiful." She swept up Zane with a wave and the two of them dove into the river. Well she dove, Zane was more so thrown. Fire erupted from my mouth. "DAMMIT ALL!" "What the hell did you do man?" Soul was barely speaking from his fixed standing position. "Man I've just given her the power of the Avatar. And whoever else she wants to have it. What am I supposed to do now?" "We still got a shot at this man. There aren't a lot of people that know about the monks vault's location." "And you do?" "Of course. We just have to retrieve that key, and she's still locked out." "You know this is our only shot?" "Yeah I got it man, I know. I tried to tell you not to trust her. Any girl who'd use a low blow against a man, for looking at what a man should be looking at, has to be evil. I mean don't she know that when the flag is at full mast, it's a good sign." I should have known he'd have that thinking. I threw the car keys at him. "You're driving, we have a lot of preps to make. We're leaving the country to get to that vault. Assuming it's out of the country right?" "Yeah. But I won't say where, she could still be listening." "Oh right." You'd think I'd have learned that after the last time I saw her jump into water. I broke the earth around his feet, and had to help him to the car.

The next morning, we really felt the effects of the battle. I had asked my phone to take all the data it had obtained while with me during the fight with those two and put it into the simulator. Before crashing, I had ordered that it scan our brains during sleep, to obtain our full memory, and personality. I also had the most human sounding robotic speakers on the planet on their way to my house to be delivered in three days time. "Aye, Zero. What's all the stuff for?" "I don't know how long we'll be gone. I want the androids to be as realistic as possible. They'll be going to school, and everything else for us as long as we're gone." "And don't you think someone will notice the difference between cold metal and warm flesh?" "The skin like material on their outer layers will be warmed from the heat of the machines inside. And they're going to be told to avoid physical contact as much as possible in a natural way. Look don't ask a bunch of questions these aren't the toy robots that you played with as a kid. I got this. Where is the monk's vault anyway?" "Japan haha. In the mountains." "At the top of mountains just like your temples? Isn't that a bit obvious?" Actually yeah. Which is why it's underground." "Ah...Well I hope you've enjoyed your days as a bum, We're taking the next 5 days to train you into a beast. In all conditions. Next time we clash with them it's for keeps, and I can't fight 2v1." "And what about speaking Japanese so we don't look like complete American crap when we arrive?" "We could try the nanobots and put them on the language related part of the brain." "Zero, how much money do you have? And I better not start disintegrating." I could have responded but there was too much on my mind. The training was outrageous. My computer believed that this girl was unbelievably powerful. And we switched with every other session between day and night. But Soul made progress. Our teamwork sync improved, and Soul's reflexes got faster. I still whupped him, but he actually looked like an airbender out there. Despite this being a race, I figured we had some time while she went to Africa to find a vault. Thankfully the copy I printed didn't tell her that It was a highly guarded monument. It was actually the most public of the vaults, but they never announced it as a vault. Only as Africa's greatest museum, The National Bardo Museum in Tunis. _I wonder how well she is with the native language? She'll have fun with that, I'm sure._

I gave an extra day for us to rest and practice our Japanese. Everything checked out okay. "Soul. Let's burn out." He followed me to a door I never used, and went down a long flight of stairs. "Where we going? Your second base..." His sentence was cut short when he saw the black jet and underground garage for it. "Seriously Zero, how loaded are you?!" He followed me to the cockpit and I sat in the seat and strapped the seat belts. "Wait wait wait, are you licensed to fly a jet?" "Computer." A small plastic card with my name and picture on it came from a slot. "Am now. Sit down." "Zero Abyss, you are something else." "Heh, I know."

Kyana

He'd taken the bait. This should be a huge victory, but part of me actually regretted taking advantage of him like that. Granted, it was a really small part, but still a part. Nonetheless, I was taking Zane to Africa, like now. When we were back under the lake, I took a look at the map and put an 'X' on the coordinates of the Vault of the Firelord. I wasn't sure how I felt about swimming almost six thousand miles to the coast of Africa in denim shorts. So I wore sport shorts instead. "Zane, you can still use earthbending to see, right?" "Yeah, why couldn't I?" "Just making sure." That would be helpful. I wouldn't have to bend us the whole way there. Just as I was about to tell Zane to get ready, a thought occurred to me. _I still need the key from the Monk's Vault._ I'll bet that airbender knows where it is. "We should go to the earth vault first. We need to meet Zero and his friend again in Africa." "Good thinking, but you really think he's stupid enough to go there?" "Don't you?" "Good point, but I wouldn't underestimate him. He may fit the dumb rich kid stereotype, but he might have a few tricks up his sleeve." _Yeah, well I have a few tricks of my own._ "Not a problem. We should get going." "You know, I've never really wanted to go to China." "Well you're out of luck," I broke the bad but obvious news to him, "That's where we're heading."

I gotta admit, the swim there wasn't as horrible as I thought it'd be. I waited until nightfall, then I bent us out to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, where Zane found a small uninhabited island. My bending was powerful, even more so with the moon, but I wasn't Wonder Woman. That continuous effort took more out of me than expected. "I can't believe we're only a quarter of the way there." Zane looked at me. "China is on the other side of the world, Kyana. I can get us to England by morning. You should sleep, because once we get there, I'll expect you to have a plan." "Why me?" "Because you're the plan person. Duh." _Guess I'll just dream up a plan then._

Whatever supernatural thing happened in my mind that night was a miracle, because when I woke up that morning, I actually had a plan. Granted, it probably wasn't a very good one, but a plan. "Morning, sunshine." "Don't call me that." First thing in the morning and Zane was already bothering me. This would be a very long day."So about that plan, we should stop and hear it." We were in France by the time Zane actually remembered I was supposed to think of that. "So basically," I started to explain, glad that I hadn't forgotten since morning, "When we get to the Vault in China, you're the main force to get the key. I'll only help if you need me, which you shouldn't" I shot him a look that said _'and you better not'_. "Then head back to..." I looked at the small sheet of paper with the location of the Firelord's Vault, "Tunisia. And there we wait until Zero and his friend show up. When they do, I'm not exactly sure what I'll pull. He won't trust my emotion stunts, and I feel like he won't show up until day, unless he really is that stupid, so that rules out any torture with bloodbending. But when I get him to join us, we'll be able to get the key. That airbender shouldn't be too hard to get the key from, even if I'll hate every moment of it. And then we find the Vault of the Avatar." Before Zane had a chance to reply, a girl a little older than me approached. "Pardon, mademoiselle. Puis-je vous aider?" "Non, merci." "Est-ce que vous certain?" "Ouai." When she walked away, Zane was free to discuss my plan with me. "That was weird." "Yeah, well French people are weird." "So anyway," he continued, "That's pretty good, but you're forgetting one thing." "What's that?" "How do we get to China? If you expect me to bend us all the way there and get the key, that will be a problem." _Dammit._ "I should find some water around here." _Wait._ "The Danube River. You can get us there then I can get us at least to the Caspian Sea, if not further. Sound like a plan?" He nodded. Guess I'd be in for some sort of adventure within the next 24 hours. Once we got to the Caspian Sea, it wasn't long before I noticed Zane was slipping. "Pull it together." "Is it so bad that I'm tired? I told you I'd help you. Don't push it." He might've been the only person in existence who could say that to me and live to tell the story. We stopped off for about 2 hours, but then I got Zane to bend us into China. Xinjiang, to be exact. He could sense where the vault was, and wasted no time, refusing to bend on the way there. Walking was for non-benders, though, when earthbending was an option. I didn't push my luck with him, however, and we finally got to the entrance of the vault after a seriously long journey.

When Zane stepped up to the edge of a flowing river, I thought he was insane. "This is a waterfall." "Which is why nobody would suspect the earth vault." _They might suspect the water vault, and then the same problem would still happen._ "Mind bending it around us?" I did as asked, and the gap in the fall revealed a huge earth shrine. When we approached, I saw two giant badgermoles headed our way. At least I finally get a challenge. _Thank God the moon is up._


	4. Chapter 4

Zero

Landing the jet in an airport, I woke Soul up so we start our little quest. We were immediately greeted. Thankfully in english. "Mr. Abyss we welcome you to Japan. And this is Mr..." Soul cut in before I could answer for him. "Kid. The names Soul The Kid." She was confused, obviously thinking that our American culture had strange ways of naming our kids. "He's a special case miss. His given name is Soul. Surname Kid. Middle name The." This seemed to clear her confusion. _Of all the people why do I choose the best friend named The Kid?_ "Is there anything we may assist you during your stay here?" Her accent made her words smash together. Although delayed I got what she was saying though "We already have a hotel booked, but we need a..." Soul slid in again "Two cars actually ma'am." _Just blow my money why doesn't he._ It's not like I need it or anything. "And that will be all." I had to make sure I got that in before Soul charged my card anymore. She bowed and turned to leave. "Arigato." Thanking her in her own words seemed appropriate. Before she got out of sound range I added "Oh if you can, a black truck, and a green car." She turned and bowed again. A short wait in the lounge before she returned with 2 sets of keys. "Mr. Abyss. Mr. Kid." It occurred to me that in the time we'd learned to speak Japanese, we had made no effort to learn to read it. "One last things. Could you write down instructions on how to arrive to the Hotel Sugicho from here? "Ah the Sugicho? Very nice hotel. But very expensive. You must have money." _Is this her way of asking me to pass her a couple dollars on the side? Shole ain't happening._ "Yeah, you could say I've had good fortune in my years." It was pretty obvious who was driving each vehicle. When we arrived to the hotel, check in was very smooth. I chose to only get one room but with two beds. We found a decent place to eat and rest up. Tomorrow we'd have to pass some trial or something to get into the vault of the monks. I left Soul alone while I drove around town some, to get a feel for the land. When I came back to the room Soul had found a way to ruin my whole night. Before I even went to unlock the room door I heard a moaning inside. And it wasn't Soul. _Ah this bitch! Just couldn't fight the urge_. _Should be ashamed of himself. And my stuff is in there. Damn you Soul The Kid._ Although I didn't like having to get a whole extra room, I actually slept peacefully that night. If only I could have said the same for nights of the prior week. That morning I learned that Soul never failed to ruin things for me. When I went up to his room, I just used my key to walk in, assuming he was still asleep. When I walked in, his new mistress was still in the bed. But obviously wasn't very modest about the way she slept. She had one boob hanging out of the covers, Soul's hand on the other, and her legs spread in a very obtuse angle. I might as well have died right then. I also wasn't happy about having to pay for all the repairs for scorching that room. "Just couldn't fucking control ya self huh?" "Look Zero, a man gotta do what a man gotta do. Airbenders gotta repopulate man." "You little fuck, don't you know that closet pervertedness is the only answer!?" "Everyone knows that open pervs win." _This lil bitch. It ain't even worth it._ "Alright whatever. I don't wanna talk about it. Let's just get to the vault." We drove to the base of the tallest mountain. "So Zero, here's the catch. Our vault has no guards but a lot of hidden mechanisms. The first trick is that system to open this tunnel is actually in the city. And it stays open for a short time. That way the only way to get in is to have used a glider and got in before it closes. But you don't know where it is until it's opened to station someone at both." "Then how the hell are we going to get in here?!" "I thought you planned for that?" I sighed. Why did he not bring this up sooner? "Alright better idea. Combo bending But before we go in here, why has no earthbender found this place sooner?" "It was once guarded by sky bison. But after the 100 year war...well you get it. But after that it almost seemed cursed to come to a former place of airbenders." "And who would have suspected underground anyway. Alright. Well, twin dragon booster." We each took deep breaths and he blew wind slightly after my burst of fire aimed at the base of the mountain. Dents. No results yet. "Again." And we blasted the rock formation again. "Again." Another round only put us deeper into the side of the mountain. "Again." Finally something new appeared. A bigger hole showed up, going downward. "It would appear we found our tunnel Soul." Walking to the end. the small passageway opened up into a grand hall. The sacred temple before us. I began to walk forward, but yet the floor in front of me of me pulled away to a spike pit. _Must be one of the little traps he mentioned._ The gap was 300 feet though. I wasn't jumping that. Or actually. "Wind dragon strike, right at me." I took a few steps back. Soul took a breath. Then forced it toward me. I got a run and jumped, while igniting from my feet. The extra wind juiced my fire for me to fly across. Being an airbender meant Soul was light on his toes, so he had no problem with clearing the gap. We ran into a few more traps, tricks, and gadgets. But we made it to the base of of the temple. At the top. I could see it reflecting what little light is was receiving just like the crystals in this room. The circular relic had the triple swirl of the air nomads on it. We climbed the stairs. "Soul, you do the honors since you're an airbender. Pickup up the relic, we were that much closer. A second exit appeared at the back. At the end of the tunnel there was a door which also responded to the key. Driving back the hotel I was glad something could be easy for once. "Don't get too comfortable Soul, we leave for Africa tomorrow. "Africa? Why? Well if she doesn't have the key already, Then we should at least try for it. And unlike today, our vault is highly guarded. Be ready to leave by 6 tomorrow morning. Flying the jet toward Africa the next day I could already feel confrontation coming about. We'd be arriving at about 10 am. Good. So it was at least my time of day. After placing the key in an eye scan lock on the jet I went over some last minute details with Soul. "Alright remember, we came here to Africa first, we sure don't have the key in our possession, and you aren't even of age to have been told about The Vault of the Monks." "I got it." "Well good. Let's go make hell."

Kyana

"Kyana," Zane explained something alien to me, "Badgermoles aren't aggressive. Don't fight them, that's a sure way we'll never see that key. We need to gain their trust, and they will show us the way." Zane could be dumb sometimes, but when it really mattered, he could pull it together. He had a lot of reverence for his ancestors, and at some point in time, his ancestors learned from the badgermoles. When they approached, they waited. They did not strike. Zane took a deep breath, and moved into a stance I'd never seen before. "Follow my lead." I copied his stance, and the badgermoles reacted. We bowed and waited until the badgermoles approached us further. When they put their claws together, they turned around and walked away from the shrine. I was suspicious of this, but what was I gonna do? These were the keepers of the vault.

They took us around the back of the landmark and underground. There was a labyrinth of pathways. Even if someone found this place, they would never be able to get to the key without help. There were places where the badgermoles lowered secret passages and things of that nature. Eventually, we came to a giant room. There were multiple trials for an earthbender to pass before reaching the key, which was at the top of a giant, pure platinum pedestal. I just stood there and watched as Zane made his way to the top using dozens of moves like making rock shelves, climbing vertical walls, and metalbending. He never used metalbending. I didn't even know he could bend metal. _When the hell did that happen!?_ It was all I could think about until we were halfway to Tunisia. "Kyana, it's not a big deal. It was forever until you told me about your bloodbending." "Yeah, cause I thought you'd freak out and never talk to me again!" "That's ridiculous. I was scared as fuck, sure, but I'm still here, aren't I?" _Guess so. Good to have one true friend._ "Right. But you metalbending could've been so helpful in the past." "What's done is done." "Alright, alright. So when we get to Africa, we're just gonna lay low and wait for Zero and his dumb friend to show up." "Sounds like a plan." We were walking through the southern part of Saudi Arabia when I realized we were doing just that. Walking. "Do you have a problem with bending us the rest of the way there?" He shot me a look. I guess that meant we were walking all the way there. About 8 hours later, I had a change of heart.

We were finally crossing into Saudi Arabia, but I'd had enough. I would've bothered Zane until he gave in, but then I saw an even better option. Last time I'd checked, Africa wasn't exactly leading producer of sport cars, but I didn't question finding one abandoned on the side of the road. The key wasn't in the ignition, and there were empty briefcases on the back seat. I assumed this car was driven by someone wanted by the law. I fit that description back in Republic City, so why not add Africa to that list? "Zane, can you bend the ignition so the car starts?" He could, and did. "See how helpful your metalbending is?" I smiled for the first time since seeing the waterfall in Xinjiang. Driving this car was one of the most exhilarating feelings. Going about 95 over the terrain in Africa wasn't a difficult feat. "Do you always drive like that?" "Only when I'm bored." "Well lets hope you don't get bored when you're near any cars in the future."

Finding the monument in Tunisia wasn't the easiest thing in the world. Knowing the coordinates meant nothing without a map. We walked for another 5 hours before finally seeing the only thing that looked like it could be important. All that was left to do was wait, and I was glad because I was so damn tired it wasn't even funny. Sleeping in a sports car is more comfortable than you might think. It was the perfect place to think about how to get Zero on my side. I had to if I wanted to get the key from the Monk's Vault. I'd think of something before it was too late. I woke up without a clue, aimlessly watching the sun rise. _The sun._ I had a feeling Zero would show up sometime soon. That kid was at least smart enough to face us during his time of day. I decided to put the key from the vault in a place nobody would find. I would've told Zane to hold it, but he wasn't the best with important stuff. I sat there waiting, knowing today was the day. _This should be interesting_


	5. Chapter 5

Zero

I was pretty glad the Monk's Vault was easy. Without modern protectors there had been nothing modern about it. When we got back to the hotel, I considered the options. _Take this key we have and go back home. Or push our luck and go to Africa._ I hadn't received any message from the Fire Sages guarding the key that there had been any problem. So unless the duo had killed them all, it meant my key was still safe._ Do I take a risk to go from it, or protect the key I have?_ _No, if I get at least two of them then I'll feel more assured._ I went up to Soul's room, and made sure to knock instead of just walk in. "We're going to Africa." "Anyway? You gave her the location don't you think she'd have it already? I doubt she'd just relax at her house or wherever she stays and enjoy her victory. She probably left that night. And we took almost a week before we made our move." "Unlike your fallen brethren, there are still firebenders. Our vault is protected and they'd have informed me if the key had been stolen." "Alright whatever you say. When do we leave?" "In the morning, get your stuff together, and get some sleep. If we're fighting, it's gonna be on my time."

The flight to Africa was pretty quiet. Well for Soul's standard. Upon landing before we left I locked the key away in a safe hold that required my eye scan to get in. "Pulling out all the stops aye Zero?" "I don't know how long this jet is going to be just parked here. The key has to be safe at all cost. And how stupid would it be if the key just fell out of my pocket?"

We parked a few blocks away from the museum to dodge the influx of traffic. Walking the rest of the way, the best thing of our journey so far happened. A few thugs made an attempt to mug us. I tried, and failed, to hold back. The end result was scaring them for life. And not mentally, but I left a scar the size of my fist wherever I stuck. And the money I demanded for wasting my time would pay the entry fee. "A little harsh don't you think Zero?" "No. harsh would have been lightning. But I'm a nice guy remember?" He rolled his eyes but I heard him laugh a bit.

The line getting into the museum wasn't all that bad. When we got inside the cultural heritage inside would have proved to my history teacher just how bad her class was. "So Zero, where are all the guards you talked about?" "The fire sages are everywhere in here. Sorry to disappoint if you were expecting the old school robes." They come in the form of a governmental group called Sigma 6. And behind firebending, one way walls are their specialty." "That's sorta creepy." I didn't have time to respond because I looked across the courtyard and saw a pair of... memorable faces. One belonged to a light skinned earthbender. The other, a cute and devious waterbender. I pulled a double fire spin kick, and Soul turned a 360 and flung an airblast off his arm. The earthbender, who had obviously had his eye on us through vibrations, protected them with an earth wall. Non-bender tourist screamed, shouted, and ran away. Leaving the stage clear. Soul and I closed the gap between our two tag teams. A host of men in red suits poured from every direction and circled the four of us. They were all in a synchronized stance to shoot fire. The same basic stance I'd learned years ago when my father first trained me to bend. "Clear this building, retrieve the key, and bring it to me. My name is Zero Abyss, from the guardian Abyss family of this vault." A few of the men seemed confused, but I made the assumption they were the ones who didn't read the job description. The others ran off to do what they were instructed and the others followed. The earthbender took a step forward as if to signal he'd be fighting. "Zane don't be stupid." _Zane huh? I'm not sure the name fits him._ "Kyana, I got these two."_ And a Kyana? Interesting._ I looked around to survey the environment. I felt my face smirk when I realized the new best part of our quest. There was no water here. Our new friend Kyana was going to have to sit out this fight. I'd beaten Zane alone at around four. It was only 45 minutes from noon right now. My power was coming up to it's fullest in the day. _Should I tell Soul to sit this one out? Hell no. This isn't about the honor my family name holds. This is punishment. This is revenge._ I began to realize that as this trip had continued, I was becoming a harsher guy, turning into the typical angry firebender. But I liked it. I began to torch fire from my mouth, and when Zane did the obvious thing and blocked, the closeness made a cloud of smoke. Soul then ran around behind Zane and blasted his way. Zane pushed up the earth up from underneath him to launched himself in the air over the attack. _Heh. Perfect._ "Soul, dragon's tail!" I took in a breath and took in the power of the sun. Clapping my hands together, I put them above my head and shot a stream of fire, then brought them to ground. The fire followed. It struck Zane directly, but the catch to this move was that on the other side Soul did the same thing, doubling the power of the attack. I heard Zane hit the ground hard and opened my eyes to see him struggling to get back up. "Hey Soul, think we overdid it?" "HELL NO! Man this is revenge from what they did to me!" I smirked. _What the hell is wrong with me? Aren't I the good guy here?_ I assumed Zane was finished for the day, so I let my guard down. But as soon as I turn around I was flying back 10 feet. Zane had managed to get to his feet, and attack me in the process. _Ah this bitch._ "Sweep." Soul dropped and did a sweep on command. The air tripped Zane from behind. I had forgot Kyana was here until she was by Zane's side now. "Kyana let's just let them have this one. We'll get them after Alaska."_ Just giving me all the answers today. Both your names. The location of a vault._ This was going nicely. Zane tried to get back up, but a second dragon's tail brought him back down. Soul appeared to be enjoying this as well, so maybe I wasn't as evil as I was feeling. He walked over to where Zane and Kyana were. I spoke up again, "I hate to use typical lines. But this is rich. We can consider today...compensation for last week." I met eyes with Soul. He had a bit of a perverted smile going. "Since hitting a defenseless woman would be wrong, this'll do instead." I could feel my eyes get wide when he grabbed the front of her tank top, and ripped off not only her shirt but he got her bra in with that. She screamed and covered herself as best she could. But not before I caught a very nice peek._ Ah the joy in being a closet pervert._ I saw Soul catch her gaze. The look on her face said that if there had been the minutest water in bending range, she'd have killed him on the spot.

If this had been, only a few weeks earlier, I would have said this was enough. But I felt that I needed to leave a message. Something to tell her 'this is over'. Then it hit me. It went against all the morals I had. But honestly I felt downright evil right now. I walked over to where the two were. And I took my time doing it. "Soul get her out of the way, then gimme a boost." Soul slid her a few feet over with some air, then I ran at him. I jumped and added some fire for a boost. He stepped under and made a small tornado which kept me going up. When I felt I was maybe two or three hundred feet in the air I yelled down, "Release!" When the tornado vanished, I came descending, head first, I lit my fist with all the flames I could produce, and brought down all my force on Zane's chest.

I'm not sure how I felt. He grabbed his chest, and fumed in agony as he was being burned from the inside out. His anguish filled yells filled with a feeling. A sense a satisfaction. It was all of my will power not to laugh. "AAHHHH. ARGGGGH." He tried to force his finaly words through coughs of blood. "Ky...Kyana...I...aargh...I..." He spat out a big wad of blood and squirmed until he grew still, soon to grow cold. Never to give Kyana his final remarks. The fire sages had watched me kill him and seemed a little frightened when I approached them. "Key." As it was handed to me I called to Soul, then left one final remark. "Clean that corpse. Burn it. A body would scare away tourists. And be sure to lock her away somewhere. Don't be fooled she's a master waterbender." I couldn't imagine what she was thinking over there. She only sat there. Blank faced. No tears. No threats. I decided not to warn the sages she could bloodbend on sign of any moon. I wanted to see if she'd really come for us after that. After watching her partner be murdered in cold blood. _Just how much of a fighter is this girl?_

Kyana

I couldn't help but feel like the biggest idiot in the universe when I saw Zero and that kid approaching._ Fuck. This is the middle of fucking Africa. No no no no no._ I looked over at Zane, who was focused on the duo. This was the first time in a _long_ time that I freaked out before a fight. I was useless. I hated that feeling more than anything. And I didn't like those odds against Zane. "Hey, um, I just kinda realized that there's no water around here." He broke concentration long enough to survey the surroundings, and his eyes narrowed. "It's cool, just sit this one out." I hesitated to tell Zane how little confidence I had that he could take Zero, let alone with the power of an airbender backing him. _How can I get him to stand down?_ "That doesn't feel like the best option here." "I know, but what are you gonna do? Create water out of thin air?" _I wish I could._ "No, but we could get out of here, wait for them to get the key, ambush them when they came back?" "It'll be fine." _But you won't be fine._ What was going on with me? Usually I'd love to watch a fight. Sure, I'd rather be in the action, but sometimes, watching was just as enjoyable. But all I cared about at that moment was Zane not getting himself killed. I was desperate to change his mind. "Zane, don't be stupid." For the first time, I think I let the emotion through my eyes. The real emotion. It was terrifying. "Kyana," he tried to reassure me, "I got this."

As my best friend, and the only person to ever understand me, walked out to face Zero and his lapdog, I felt helpless and hopeless. Sure, I'd keep a tough exterior, but I knew this wouldn't turn out well for Zane. Something about Zero looked different. His normal presence was gone. He seemed wicked. Stopped playing hero. _The one time I want someone to go easy in a fight. Seriously?_ This was the worst thing that could've possibly happened.

I stood by, powerless to do otherwise, as Zane was attacked from both directions. Zero looked like a dragon, breathing fire was a strange sight to see. Zane blocked and launched himself into the air, deflecting an air attack. "Soul, dragon's tail!" _Soul? Ironic. That kid doesn't seem to have one. It's already in hell, just waiting for his body to catch up._ When I looked up, I saw a rush of flames fueled by a rush of wind hit Zane. He hit the ground hard. I thought I heard a crunch. I had just been sitting there, a good fifty feet away, but I decided to try and talk some sense into Zane. I was so unfocused on my surroundings. I was out of it. Next thing I knew, Zane was on the ground again. I could see the fight in him dying out. I had to do something, anything. But there was nothing I could do. Once I was next to him, he finally started sounding sensible. "Kyana, let's just let them have this one. We can get them after Alaska." I was so concerned about his condition that I wasn't even mad about him giving them the location of the last vault. I just nodded. When he got up, Zero and Soul brought him back down. _What the hell is wrong with you? Can't you see he's done fighting?_ Soul walked towards us, and I swore if I even had an ounce of water he'd be sorry. Zero opened his mouth, "I hate to use typical lines. But this is rich. We can consider today...compensation for last week." Soul had a disgusting look on his face. I glanced down at my chest, remembering the key in my bra. I was hoping it wouldn't catch his eye, but I was not expecting him to just rip my clothes off and leave me exposed like that. I know I screamed, but I don't remember hearing it. I tried to catch the key, and cover myself at the same time. It seemed to work. Neither of them saw the key. I looked up at Soul. My eyes were daggers. He'd pay for that. He'd just sealed his fate. Just when I thought things couldn't possibly get worse, Zero approached. "Soul get her out of the way, then gimme a boost." I felt myself slide over a few feet. My mind was going numb. _Don't. Don't kill him._ My eyes followed Zero's every move, but my brain wouldn't let it sink in. A blast of flames aimed directly at Zane's chest didn't kill him immediately. He was burned alive. He agonized, spitting blood and squirming like a worm until slowing taking his last breath. For the first time, I noticed modernized fire sages I'd only ever heard of. "Key." _You bastard._ "Clean that corpse. Burn it. A body would scare away tourists. And be sure to lock her away somewhere. Don't be fooled she's a master waterbender." _And a bloodbender._ A thousand thoughts were racing through my mind. I'd never felt so alone, so cold. This was my fault. It's my fault. I looked with unfeeling eyes at what was left of my best friend. _I'm so sorry._ On the outside, I did nothing. I let the fire sages bring me to a cage they assumed would hold me. I was calculating my escape, as well as my revenge. There was a nice window at the top of the room we were in. I used the key from the Earth vault to pin up my hair, and waited until I could see the slightest rays of the moon. Then, I saw four bodies collapse around me. I took the blood from their bodies and cut through the metal bars meant to hold me. _Ready or not, here I come._

After replacing what's left of my clothes with some more proper for freezing temperatures, I rocketed out to Alaska. My adrenaline was pumping. It didn't even wear me down, but I decided to play it cool for the next couple hours, just in case. I could hardly wait for Zero to show up. Him and Soul were on their way to a sweet end. I looked up and saw an almost full moon. _The universe must be on my side._ Walking on the ice and snow made me feel at home. As much as I loved summer, this was where it was at. I needed to find a place where I could stay out of sight. _Or, I could make one._ I went back into the water and looked around. I found a pretty sturdy place in an ice shelf. I started shifting the snow and ice until I had a cave that was smaller than, but still resembled, the one at home. The one Zane made. I felt a tear roll down my cheek. _Now this is personal._


End file.
